Help! Haven't even left yet and the magic is fading!

[tink38]

Hi, all. I've been lurking on this site since December 2004, when I found out Mom and Dad were taking us to WDW from June 5th - 11th. Believe me, I am just as big a fanatic as all of you are, it's just that usually I don't feel like what I have to say will be any different than what anyone else says on here, so I keep to myself.

The krewe (as we spell it in New Orleans) is as follows:
Me (DW, 38) - DIS freak and Priority seating manager of the trip, cross referencer of 5 guides (soon to be six), and itenerary maker.

DH, 40 - Disney freak since he married me, turkey leg lover, and driver of the trip.

DS, 10 - Disney freak in training and thrill seeker.

Grandmother - reservation manager of the trip.

Gramps - financeer of the trip. (Best Dad in THE WORLD)

DS, 37 - likes Disney but really just there for her DD, 10.

DBIL, (don't know how old he is) - I think he feels the same about DW as DS.

DN, 10 - also a Disney freak in training. Loves RNRC and TOT but gets sick on Goofy's Barnstormer.

Jake, 11 (I think) - DBIL's son - good kid but picky eater.

Olivia, 7 or 8 - DBIL's DD who has been packed since before Mother's day.

This is my 1st trip report so please bear with me. We are going June 5th though 11th and staying at the Contemporary Resort. This excites me because I am a huge future/retro decor person. I also just found out that I am going to Disneyland on June 24th for a convention. What more could a girl ask for? http://www.disboards.com/images/smilies/boldpurple.gif
Anyway, Mom calls me today at work. She is SPITTING mad. Someone from Magical Gatherings staff called to confirm her reservations today. They were all wrong. She says this is her last Disney trip ever. She has never received such bad service from Disney. Keep in mind that we have been there at least a dozen times since it opened. We have gone almost every year since the kids were 3 years old. Originally we were supposed to have a tower room with a castle view. When we received our confirmations (After 3 calls lasting 15 minutes each - long distance) they said "Standard wing room". My mom called and spoke with Goldie, who said she might be able to do something better for us. This was on February 2nd. Today was the 1st callback. She spoke with Rebecca Lynne and Montana at Magical Gatherings and Montana said we had a parking lot view and there was nothing he could do for us at this point. http://www.disboards.com/images/smilies/eareek.gif What the?????

What is the point of planning ahead so far in advance if you are goingto get this kind of treatment? I realize that they cannot guarantee a room, but I do know that the request is logged in the system when they receive it. I emailed Guest Communications today and asked that they respond to me. Who knows how long that will take.

Does anyone know of any other route that I can take to resolve this matter? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I respect and follow all of y'all's advice.

Thanks in advance!

Monique
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[wannab@dis]

So, in other words, she never booked a tower room. :veryconfu

So why are you so upset that you keep calling them back wanting to speak to managers and threatening to never go back? I don't get what the problem should be. Maybe the reason their customer service is less than par in your eyes is they can't figure out why you're complaining either.

You (she) reserved a standard view, got a standard view, and received a comfirmation of the standard view. Seems like everything is perfectly normal to me.

 

[Yellow Shoes]

OK--I'm lost.

Your Mom originally wanted Tower rooms, and perhaps told everyone that was what she was reserving.

When she found out about the huge price difference, she decided to get wing rooms.

(I can certainly understand that someone wouldn't realize that there is a big difference in the two. I could see my non-Disney mom assuming that a room at the Contemp was a tower room, because she is unaware of the wing rooms. After all, what you really see is the tower.)

So you have been booked all along for wing rooms?

Am I understanding correctly??

 

[tink38]

Yes, you are understanding this correctly. Like I said...my mom's problem is NOT with the rooms but the customer service and the "I don't care" attitude at Disney reservations. I am not boycotting Disney. I would NEVER do that. I guess if I were more of a poster than a lurker y'all would know how often I visit this site.

 

[tigsmom]

I have to say I'm lost too... You all wanted tower rooms but they were too expensive so she booked garden wing rooms? (I stayed in one and they are nice) If she booked a standard view and got one (according to your confirmation papers), then what is the problem? I hope you aren't expecting them to give you a Tower room upgrade "just because you had your heart set on one". (if this isn't the case, then please explain more clearly)

Book the vacation you can afford and then go and enjoy it. If you keep along these lines you will not have a good time because you definately have the wrong mindset. If you really need to have a Tower room then spring for one yourself. *shrugs*

 

[speck76]

Yes, you are understanding this correctly. Like I said...my mom's problem is NOT with the rooms but the customer service and the "I don't care" attitude at Disney reservations. I am not boycotting Disney. I would NEVER do that. I guess if I were more of a poster than a lurker y'all would know how often I visit this site.

Why should they care? You are paying for a wing room....

You can't go to the store, pay for ground beef, and demand filet mignon

 

[RedBaron]

I know it is frustrating when your trip does not seem to be going as planned right from the start. I am also sure that once you get there and you start having fun, you wont even think about the room. How often are you in the room anyway? I would also agree that I would check into switching hotels. Hearing that the Contemporary has not been remodeled, the rooms may be sort of tired looking. I had stayed there probably 7 years ago and felt that my wing room was very sad. (We also wanted a tower room but were told right from the start that there were none avaliable). And for sure check the room rate you are paying for as there is a price difference between tower and wing rooms. Would hate to see you pay for something you are not getting. Have a great trip and im sure your mom will be all smiles once you get there.

 

[Bravesfn1]

Tink38, I don't understand why you are so upset at Disney. First you said your problems with them was that they screwed up the reservations, and gave you the wrong type of room. Later in your posts you say it is beacuse they gave you poor customer service, and has nothing to do with the rooms. You said that your mom decided not to book a tower room because it was too expensive so she booked a wing room. What was so bad about the customer service that you are calling all these managers and want to talk to supervisors and the like. I am not understanding, please clear this up. Right now I agree with Disney's side of the story and not yours.

 

[Christina]

Well see if your mom BOOKED a wing room then you can not expect a TOWER room...if its too expensive for her, then whatever. It's a VACATION and anyways how long do you plan to spend in your hotel room? Are you planning to lounge there all day? Because in my family a hotel room is JUST for sleeping... and we usually never look outside the windows anyways, we're so tired when we get back from the parks...

But relax, and have fun. If you plan to spend all day in your hotel, then sure upgrade to a tower room... if not, stop complaining. It's DISNEYWORLD!

 

[Bravesfn1]

Well see if your mom BOOKED a wing room then you can not expect a TOWER room...if its too expensive for her, then whatever. It's a VACATION and anyways how long do you plan to spend in your hotel room? Are you planning to lounge there all day? Because in my family a hotel room is JUST for sleeping... and we usually never look outside the windows anyways, we're so tired when we get back from the parks...

But relax, and have fun. If you plan to spend all day in your hotel, then sure upgrade to a tower room... if not, stop complaining. It's DISNEYWORLD!

See Christina, she says her problem is not with what room they will be staying, but with the customer service that she received. She said it was poor and unlike the standards usually expected from Disney. I say I want to hear more specifics on what type of service she received. According to what she has said, I don't see why she is complaining to all these managers. I agree with you that more time is spent in the parks than the hotel, but her issue isn't about what room they reserved, but with the customer service.

 

[islandbeachnut]

The original poster's whole issue with the Contemporary seemed a little fishy from the start. I still cannot figure out what her problem with Disney is, other than wanting a tower room for the price of the wing rooms. Get over it, mom booked a wing room, not the tower! If you want a tower room pay the extra $$$$$!!

 

[daveemtdave]

I am really lost here. It sounds like you complained about one problem - not getting the rooms you booked; then when you found out you got the rooms you booked, you are upset that they didn't change your rooms to what you thought you booked. You said it was the way they treated you....how did you treat them. I recently had a problem and I had to talk to customer relations. I was very impressed with their help in resolving my problem........it almost sounds like you want the rooms you thought you booked for the price of the ones you got....I agree with others in this post, there is much more to this situtation.

 

[Yellow Shoes]

Anyway, Mom calls me today at work. She is SPITTING mad. Someone from Magical Gatherings staff called to confirm her reservations today. They were all wrong.... She has never received such bad service from Disney.... Originally we were supposed to have a tower room with a castle view. When we received our confirmations (After 3 calls lasting 15 minutes each - long distance) they said "Standard wing room".

What was the nature of the phone calls? What were you asking about?

My mom called and spoke with Goldie, who said she might be able to do something better for us.

What did/do you want Goldie to do?

This was on February 2nd. Today was the 1st callback.

I agree that this is too long to wait for a call back.

She spoke with Rebecca Lynne and Montana at Magical Gatherings and Montana said we had a parking lot view and there was nothing he could do for us at this point.

"Nothing" meaning that there are no tower rooms available, or that you cannot get tower for a wing price?

What is the point of planning ahead so far in advance if you are goingto get this kind of treatment? I realize that they cannot guarantee a room, but I do know that the request is logged in the system when they receive it. I emailed Guest Communications today and asked that they respond to me. Who knows how long that will take.

Again, I will ask, what exactly do you expect from Guest Communications?

 

[mrneon606]

I too am joining the confused group. You are upset cause Disney gave you what your Mom requested??? And as far as now saying it is more about the customer service you received than getting the wrong room (which was the right room); where exactly did the customer service lack ? You said they looked into it for you further which they did and come to find out they were right all along; I think you still need to talk to a manager but not to complain but to withdraw your complaint because you were wrong. I am sure since you work in the customer service field you know how aggravting it is when a customer complains about something when they have the wrong info..

 

[speck76]

See Christina, she says her problem is not with what room they will be staying, but with the customer service that she received. She said it was poor and unlike the standards usually expected from Disney. I say I want to hear more specifics on what type of service she received. According to what she has said, I don't see why she is complaining to all these managers. I agree with you that more time is spent in the parks than the hotel, but her issue isn't about what room they reserved, but with the customer service.

If her problem is that they bought a wing room, and thought that if they bi+ched enough Disney would give them a tower room (without paying for it), then I can understand how customer svs is not meeting their expectations.....as their expectations were way out of line in the first place.

 

[mousermerf]

Okay, this is my prediction:

Tink is upset because when they called about the rooms they acted like she had frogs coming out of her ears, blew her off, and kinda hoped if they stone-walled long enough, she'd go away.

If you had a real problem and Disney had made an error, this would be a customer service issue.

Problem is, tink was apparently wrong. She probably went into gung-ho thinking she was right and when CM's were like "Umm, no, sorry, you're wrong" the "spitting mad" came out from her or her mother saying Disney was wrong, when they weren't.

So, tink is mad that she got treated like she was crazy. Thing is, she was crazy. How is Disney supposed to react? Their usual passive aggressive "hope if we leave it to rott it'll go away!" manner, that's how!

I don't think tink was trying to get a free room upgrade. I think she thought she was supposed to be in the higher end room when her mother made the mistake. Thus, she pursued it full force only to end up looking very sheepish when things turned out not to be so - and thus now saying Disney should of been "magical" instead of realistic in the situation.

To make things easier to understand from Disney's side - they've got tons of records and information and everything carefully logged and tracked, they knew they weren't wrong. You may say they should of taken the whole ordeal more seriously, but a false alarm is a false alarm, and Disney having been down this road several time before had their ducks in a row and knew something was amiss from square one.

Can't blame them for not reacting to non-problem.

 

[tink38]

What was the nature of the phone calls? What were you asking about?

My mother was contacted by Disney Reservations to confirm the rooms. She had originally requested a tower room, but found out they were too expensive. We have three rooms reserved. The reservations were incorrect, but they sorted it out.




What did/do you want Goldie to do?

You got me on that one. I have no idea what my mom wanted Goldie to do. Like I said, I picked the ball up on this midway. I think all my mom wants is someone to tell her that they are sorry for all of the confusion and general lack of customer service that she has received through this whole thing. Her feeling is that we go to WDW every year and spend quite a bit of money, as everyone does. We typically travel with a party of ten or more. I guess she feels that she feels she deserves better treatment than what she got. I know they keep records of how many times you visit and where you stay. Please correct me if I'm wrong on this.



"Nothing" meaning that there are no tower rooms available, or that you cannot get tower for a wing price?

As of Friday, there were no tower rooms available. I was told to ask again at check in.

 

[lawyergirl77]

Something similar happened to my aunt a few years ago (1998) when she was planning the vacation we were going to take together. Totally crappy customer service, missing reservations, uncooperative CMs etc... And she was very firm about how disappointed she was prior to our arrival.

End result of the kerfuffle with our reservations? We got upgraded to concierge at the Poly, and thus began my obsession with concierge in general!

While some people say that getting mad at Disney staff is like "shouting at a brick", I have actually found that if you remain calm and express disappointment, rather than anger, you can often get an answer more quickly.

One small caveat: one of her husband's final wishes was that she take her children along with my mother and I to WDW once their youngest turned 10 (if I'm not mistaken, I think it was even in his will). I don't know whether or not she relayed that story to Disney, but if she did, it may have made a difference.

 

[tink38]

Something similar happened to my aunt a few years ago (1998) when she was planning the vacation we were going to take together. Totally crappy customer service, missing reservations, uncooperative CMs etc... And she was very firm about how disappointed she was prior to our arrival.

End result of the kerfuffle with our reservations? We got upgraded to concierge at the Poly, and thus began my obsession with concierge in general!

While some people say that getting mad at Disney staff is like "shouting at a brick", I have actually found that if you remain calm and express disappointment, rather than anger, you can often get an answer more quickly.

One small caveat: one of her husband's final wishes was that she take her children along with my mother and I to WDW once their youngest turned 10 (if I'm not mistaken, I think it was even in his will). I don't know whether or not she relayed that story to Disney, but if she did, it may have made a difference.

Thanks. That is exactly my point. I plan on bringing my letter to Guest Communications with me and all of my notes. I work in the travel/customer service industry and what you said about remaining calm is true. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar! I for one am more apt to be helpful to someone who isn't sceaming in my ear. (And believe me, they HAVE!)

 

[daveemtdave]

So you do want an upgrade.....they could say they were sorry BUT did you guys say you were sorry for your mistake. We hear how Disney treated you, BUT how did your mom treat the CM WHO was correct........According to your posts, you are getting what you paid for, I think you want the tower room and more.............

 

[royorb1]

When I made reservations for the Cotemp Tower, I had to remind them constantly that we wanted a park view. Each time they said they were noting it in the system but each time when I would call back they would not see the park view preferrence. We did eventually get our park view and it was awesome.